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Looking for cultural insight regarding "Ukrainian folk embroidery" (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world to c/ukraine@lemmy.world

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Hey all!

This feels like a weird request, so I'm hoping to pick the brains of anyone familiar with Ukrainian culture, as both an authenticity check, and to make sure this project wouldn't come off as disrespectful, so let me know what you think and don't pull any punches.

I'm a surgical tech in the US, and one of the surgeons I work with is involved with a program that helps train Ukrainian doctors in specific types of surgeries that have a heightened demand from all the wartime injuries coming from Putin's dumb fucking war.

During an operation, this doc mentioned wanting to get a scrub cap that featured a fusion of traditional Ukrainian folk embroidery and iconography relevant to his practice (surgical instruments? The hospital logo? I'll have to follow up with him to see specifically what he meant).

Anyway, hearing all that, the whole time I was thinking "I can make that happen..."

So, the first question is SHOULD I make that happen? The fusion bit especially strikes me as culturally risky, especially since this dude is going to be standing across the OR bed from people who live that culture... Would it come off as disrespectful at all?

If it passes the first check, are there elements of the design I should gravitate toward or steer away from? Looking at this article, it sounds like different patterns have different meanings, so I don't want to submit a design filled with iconography relevant to like fishing or something: shooting for medical / healing themes, or anything that promotes concepts like partnership or defense / military victory.

And finally, the cap itself probably wouldn't be allowed if it was authentic embroidery - it'd have to meet all the criteria for surgical scrub attire / laundering, so my thought is to whip up a custom pattern on Photoshop, then submit that to a company that can make custom prints of fabric (not decals, but actual prints) for a sheet of cotton that looks like the embroidery, then take that fabric to someone who makes scrub caps (got a few local options for that last bit).

Then doc can rep for Ukraine in the OR!

Thoughts?

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[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Looking more into this since posting, it appears the concepts I mentioned in the OP are WAY too specific, but I was able to find some articles for patterns to incorporate.

Stars/Mallow - opposition to evil / giver of life

Cross - centricity (closest I could find to represent the partnership the Ukrainian and US doctors). Will probably go for an upright cross vs diagonal just cuz that type of image is generally associated with medicine (not by Ukrainian embroidery specifically, but the medical vibe still fits in as a nice bonus)

Squares - Represents the 'earthly field' - thinking alternating iconography of the Ukranian Trident and those practice-specific things that I still need to follow up on; all encased in a square, also signifying that partnership.

Circles - continuity of life, again kinda thinking to use that to play into a medical theme.

Poppies - protection against evil (I can't tell if the ones in the bottom part of the image are poppies or something else, but that kind of art style is more what I'd be shooting for vs the one on top).

Oak Branches - strength/bravery, a nod to the front lines / the people this program is specifically seeking to bring treatment to.

I'm feeling better about actually going forward with this, especially if I can come up with a pattern that spells out a clear message to the people coming from that culture - vs just a bunch of random symbols slapped together into the embroidered equivalent of alphabet soup. Still hoping for insight though, so anyone in the know, please school me!